Comfort of the Night
by FrozenLioness
Summary: In the midst of the night, Vash and Nicolas share a few moments of peace [Nothing special, kind of PWP, only mild shonen ai, mild fluff]


Disclaimer: Well, what can I say? I don't own Trigun. Please don't sue me. I'm just a poor girl without any money or belongings so it wouldn't make much sense to sue me anyway! I can give you nothing but a fanfic...  
  
Author's Notes: My first Trigun! And that after two days of watching! No, three days, sorry. That's the first time I've written something that fast. Well... if you know me you're probably cursing me to hell since I haven't updated any of my other fics (meaning Strawberry Bubbles and Next Lesson) and I promise I will some time! Really.   
  
But meanwhile this is what keeps floating around in my head. So like I said, my first Trigun fic and it's Wolfwood+Vash.. Just mild shonen ai, really...very mild, indeed.   
  
Warning: well, like I said, my first try and it's Wolfwood+Vash, just telling you that again to make sure. But it's really nothing serious so I guess even the homophobes among you can bear it.  
  
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The night was a bit chilly but he didn't care, not much enough to go inside, anyway. A wistful look crept into his eyes as he gazed at the stars that were glistening above him. The night sky was beautiful like this, black, seeming endless with so many little diamonds twinkling magically.   
  
"Ah, ah, I'm getting melancholic..." the blonde scoffed at himself and reached up a hand to run it through his spiky hair. The thought of the black sky made him feel comfortable, though. As much as he liked the beautiful blue sky at day, it hurt him often to look at it. Memories of her would come back to him, memories which made his heart feel heavy. This night, however, he felt like the blanket of the night's sky was covering him, protecting his scars from the bitter sadness of the past.   
  
Once again his eyes wandered up to gaze at the stars and his hands traveled over the railing of the balcony. Cold stone, it was. His hands curled and uncurled around the railing, swaying slightly from side to side to a melody he was hearing in his mind. She used to sing it. A flash of hurt rushed through his mind but he forced it down.   
  
'Just for a while,' he thought, trying to find shelter in the night. And it worked. The perfect view he had from the balcony was more than enough to distract him. He could see the town and its lights. There were still a few people up but not many. There were only five houses that still held light. No wonder, it was after midnight. Every normal person was sleeping at this hour unlike him. But then again, he wasn't a normal person, was he?  
  
The Human Typhoon, they called him. They all feared him for things he had never done. A shooting star flickered across the sky and his eyes followed it full of awareness.   
  
'Make a wish when you see a shooting star,' he heard her voice in his mind. Of course he obeyed her, he had always done so. He closed his eyes, thinking of something to wish for. His brows were furrowed in concentration. This wish had to be something good, something he really wanted. He didn't want to waste this shooting star on something stupid because he believed in its magic.   
  
"Wish for peace of mind," a familiar voice suggested, startling the blond a little. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see the silhouette of a person leaning against the railing of the balcony next to him. For one moment he stood frozen, eyes locked on the man in the dark. Then a smile came to his face and he waved in a dismissing motion.   
  
"Ah, no, no, I wasn't wishing on the shooting star! Ha, I'm far too happy with my life to do that! Although, I could wish for some doughnuts, ne?" Faking happiness was something he had learned over the years. And it seemed to work on everyone. Was it that he was so good at faking or did just no one look for his real emotions?  
  
"Stop smiling that empty smile. It makes me sick."   
  
The words hurt him somewhat and he wondered why he always said that. He kept smiling, though.  
  
A cigarette was being lit and then silence filled the air. Neither moved or spoke. Until a sigh cut through the silence.   
  
"Vash, I'm serious. You really don't have to wear that fake smile around me. I know it's not real, so don't fool me. It's insulting to think I would be fooled by this."  
  
Nicolas pushed himself up from the railing and walked nearer to Vash's balcony until he was there and jumped right over to the blond.   
  
Vash's smile faded and he looked at his friend in surprise as Nicolas came to stand beside him, placing his hands on the railing while the cigarette rested between his teeth. They stood in complete silence again, in the exact position, except that Vash's eyes were focused on his friend while Nicolas stared up at the sky. There was something about this man that made him feel strange. This something caused him to forget the past for a while, to think of nothing but their time together. It was strange, though. He had never felt anything like this before. No matter how many people he met and how many adventures he experienced, the past was always like a burden he had to carry for the rest of his life.   
  
Only with him, Nicolas D. Wolfwood, that weird priest - and his best friend - he felt like seeing a glimpse of the future instead of the distorted pain of the past. Yet he was sure that Nicolas knew nothing about this and would never even guess what issues Vash had inside.   
  
"You know..."   
  
Vash turned his head fully to look at his friend's face. Into his eyes. And he felt that Nicolas was seeing through the shield of his eyes, seeing right into the very core of his soul. He didn't feel as vulnerable as he should have, though. Instead, he felt glad that it was him who could do that.   
  
Nicolas turned away, abruptly, and took a few drags of his cigarette before continuing to speak, head bowed the whole time.   
  
"I used to hate the night," he confessed. His voice was genuine and emotional, yet it was soft and had a vulnerable touch. Vash raised his eyebrows in interest and remained silent, waiting for him to go on.   
  
Another drag of the cigarette, then it was thrown to the ground and he stepped on it and squashed it. He shook his head once, then looked at Vash for a moment, and then turned to gaze at the town. Vash still waited for his friend to go on, however, Nicolas did not intend to talk any further about himself. The reason he had come out tonight was something else. He went away from the railing and sat down against the wall, patting the spot beside him, motioning Vash to come sit with him.   
  
The blond cocked his head in wonder and did as he was told. He sat down next to Nicolas, one knee bent, the other leg stretched out. Nicolas sat in the same fashion although he didn't mean to copy Vash. They just happened to act very much the same. And again, they sat in complete silence. A silence that was unnerving and still comforting.   
  
There were no noisy insurance girls, no gunshots of people wanting to kill Vash the Stampede - no, there was simply the night and two friends sitting together in peace.   
  
"Tell me why your smile is so empty," Nicolas suddenly said, not even looking at the blond as he absently played with an unlit cigarette in his hand. They were both staring off into space.   
  
Vash frowned. What should he say? He couldn't explain it to anyone. He just couldn't talk about it, nor did he want to think about it more than he did. How would someone understand his past? He didn't understand it himself.   
  
"It's protection," he casually replied, as though it meant nothing to him at all.   
  
Nicolas stopped his motions and turned to face the man beside him. This time it was his turn to watch the other man while he refused to meet his gaze.   
  
"You need protection from me?" he eventually asked.   
  
Vash flinched, surprised by the tone in Nicolas's answer. Did it sound like hurt? Had he hurt him in any way?   
  
"No," he honestly answered, tensing just a bit as he noticed the awkwardness of this conversation. What exactly was Nicolas aiming at?   
  
"Then stop lying to me. You know I don't need to be treated like the others. I understand."  
  
This caused Vash to bolt right up and he stared down at the sitting man. He narrowed his eyes, squinted at Nicolas. "You understand?" he asked, sounding incredulous and more hostile than he had meant to.   
  
Nicolas noticed the tone and dropped his gaze. "Sorry. I don't. But I would if you told me!"   
  
"Well, what do you want to hear? What do you want me to say?!"  
  
Heat rose up and both became slightly irritated with each other.   
  
"I want the truth! I want to know why you're wearing that mask!" He stood up to face Vash directly.  
  
"Mask? You and your mask! I'm not wearing a mask! It's all your imagination!" the blonde angrily exclaimed. It was so very unlikely for him to be angry and yet it didn't seem to be real anger. It was more like another role he was playing, that fake whiny anger he often had when Meryl hit or punched him.  
  
"Is it?" Nicolas quietly asked, all of his anger gone. This caught Vash off guard and he was back to normal again.   
  
He opened his mouth to say something but stopped as he realized he had no answer. Feeling defeated, he sat back down, leaning his head against the wall, resting his arm on his knee.   
  
Nicolas watched him from his position, waiting for something to happen. As he was sure that there was nothing going to happen, he sat back down, too, again in the same manner as his friend. They were just too much alike.   
  
The last few lights of the town had now gone out and only the moon and the stars were illuminating the landscape. Vash's eyes were fixed on the marble floor of the balcony, studying the surface. Nicolas was staring off into space again.   
  
"I used to hate nights...but now it's changed."  
  
Vash blinked and his head snapped to the side, looking at Nicolas in wonder.   
  
"I like nights now. They make me feel safe, though I don't know why. It's also very peaceful at nights. Maybe that's because ever since I met you, my days seem to be a lot more stressful than they were. So I like the peace of the night."  
  
He turned to look at Vash and their eyes met. Their gazes were locked on each other, they were looking deep into each other's eyes. Vash could see earnest affection in those eyes. Nicolas wished he could take the pain away he saw in those beautiful aqua eyes. They seemed to communicate through their eyes, sharing emotions and words that could not be said out aloud, and as Nicolas was about to take it further, reaching out his hand to take Vash's - something broke the magical moment.   
  
"Aachoo!"   
  
Nicolas blinked about three times and then stared.   
  
Vash was rubbing his nose with one hand while the other hand swatted away a leaf that was floating around near his face. "Where did that come from?" the blond complained, feeling the urge to sneeze just from seeing the thing.   
  
Nicolas stared a few more moments in disbelief before he began to chuckle.   
  
Vash looked up to see Nicolas grinning and chuckling until he finally began to laugh fully. The blond had to smile at that and eventually began to laugh himself, scratching the back of his head in a sheepish way.   
  
"Leave it to Vash the Stampede to ruin a perfectly peaceful moment," he scoffed at himself. Nicolas stopped laughing but was still smiling genuinely.   
  
"Vash...." He smiled, still.   
  
"Yes?" Vash was smiling, too.   
  
And in a split of a second Nicolas had Vash in a headlock, grinning gleefully while the blond whined and tried to wriggle out of the grasp.   
  
"You sneezed right into my face, you little bastard!"   
  
"Wah, wah, I didn't mean to! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"   
  
Both knew they were playing by now and Nicolas gave his friend a noogie before letting him go. Vash laughed and for the first time it sounded real, other than those fake smiles he always wore. Nicolas was happy to see that and hope that it meant that from now on, Vash wouldn't hide his true self from him.   
  
After a bit more laughing, both calmed and sat together again, closer than before. Vash was leaning his head on Nicolas's shoulder, looking up at the stars again. He eventually yawned and Nicolas could feel the head get heavier, indicating that Vash was falling asleep, using him as pillow.   
  
He took this opportunity to do what he wanted to do and hoped that Vash would be awake enough to notice it.   
  
His fingers wandered over to Vash's hand and there they entwined their fingers, Vash mumbling something unintelligible as he drifted off into sleep.   
  
Nicolas smiled and looked up to the sky again. The stars were shining so gently and the blackness of the night was comforting. Yes, the night was so peaceful, and he loved it.   
  
Beside him, he felt Vash shift and mumble in his sleep and chuckled. He seemed carefree and innocent right now, snuggling closer to Nicolas's arm.   
  
Nicolas was about to close his eyes when suddenly, something fell into his lap, something quite heavy. He opened his eyes again to see that Vash's head had slipped from his shoulder and had fallen into his lap where the blond was sleeping like a baby, snoring quietly. Nicolas looked thoughtful for a while. A faint hint of a blush was on his cheeks but sleep came quickly to stop him from thinking any further. Instead of analyzing the situation, he yawned and closed his eyes, dropping his head as he began to snore.   
  
And as they slept, Vash mumbled something in his sleep, something that would have probably caused both him and Nicolas to blush if they were awake.  
  
  
  
~owari~  
  
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Ending Notes: Hope you enjoyed it, reviews are always appreciated. Flames are accepted cause I need something to laugh at every now and then. So, I hope to get some feedback ^^ 


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